Cascadia: Alpine Lakes

To set up Cascadia: Alpine Lakes, first, place all 90 wildlife tokens (Cougar, Marmot, Eagle, Mountain Goat, Pika) into a cloth bag and mix them thoroughly. Next, select the appropriate number of habitat tiles based on the player count and shuffle them face-down into stacks. Randomly select one habitat scoring card (Forest, Glacier, Meadow) from each of the three sets (A, B, C, D) and place them face-up in the middle of the play area. Each player receives a unique starting habitat tile, which they place in their personal play area. Finally, draw four habitat tiles from the stacks and five wildlife tokens from the bag, pairing them up in the central play area. The player who most recently saw any of the depicted wildlife goes first, or a first player can be chosen randomly.

The primary objective of Cascadia: Alpine Lakes is to accumulate the highest total score by the end of the game. Players achieve this by strategically drafting and placing habitat tiles and wildlife tokens to create a thriving alpine environment in their personal play area. Points are awarded based on various criteria, including the arrangement of habitat corridors, the formation of animal groupings, the elevation and encirclement of lakes, and the efficient use of nature tokens.

On a player's turn, they will draft one pair consisting of a habitat tile and a matching wildlife token from the central play area. The drafted habitat tile is then added to their personal environment, connecting it to an existing tile along at least one side. Habitat tiles can be rotated before placement. Wildlife tokens must be placed on a terrain type that can accommodate that specific animal. If a wildlife token is placed on a keystone icon, the player gains a nature token. Players can spend a nature token to either re-draw all five wildlife tokens in the central play area or to draft any available habitat tile and any available wildlife token, regardless of their pairing. If three or more of the same wildlife token are present in the central play area, the active player must clear and re-draw all five wildlife tokens.

Scoring occurs at the end of the game. Points are awarded based on the selected habitat scoring cards for Forest (unique animals in corridors), Meadow (continuous groups of animals), and Glacier (pairs of the same animal in corridors). Lakes score one point per elevation level, and this score is doubled if the lake is completely surrounded by other tiles. Animals on the third elevation level of any tile score two points each. Additionally, players receive bonus points for having the most of each specific animal type (three points for first place, one point for second in 3-4 player games; two points for first place in 2-player games). Finally, any unspent nature tokens are worth one point each. The player with the highest total score wins.

The game concludes immediately when all habitat tiles from the face-down stacks have been drawn and placed. Once the last habitat tile is placed, players proceed to the final scoring phase to determine the winner based on their accumulated points from habitat corridors, animal groupings, lake features, elevated animals, animal majority bonuses, and unspent nature tokens.